Foreign policy

The focus is basically on a roundtable discussion of the Israel lobby.

And in particular, we're going to focus on two books, the 2007 book that Steve Walt and I wrote on the Israel lobby and U.S. foreign policy, and on the important, truly important new book written by Eli Clifton and Ian Lustick entitled Israel's Lobby, America in the Grip of a Foreign Power.

Now, Let me say a word about each of the authors.

As I'm sure most people know, I'm a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.

Hi, everybody.

I am thrilled to be moderating a discussion among the four authors of the two books that we'll be talking about.

Most recently, Eli Clifton and Ayan Lustig's Israel's Lobby, America in the Grip of a Foreign Power, and the classic by now, 19-year-old John Mearsheimer and Steve Waltz, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.

I think that the publication of the new book of Israel's Lobby by Eli and by Ayin marks a new phase in the willingness of people to critique American foreign policy insofar as Israel and Palestine are concerned.

Is there any other political development in the past week that you would like to comment on?

Well, I guess it's the Our foreign policy, you would have seen that the president says that we must brace that we'll be out of a goer.

A very strange concession to hear from a president.

And I guess it's on brand, in a way, with many of the things that I've mentioned, that that never again moment, right? You'd think it was fait accompli that we're part of a Goa.

You know, don't tell me of Mbeki's long forgotten 5% growth.

We've not been growing for so long.

You need different kind of thinking and a different kind of approach to international relations, to foreign policy that puts our national interests first.

So that was the, I'd say the other headline of the week.

I do have a couple of questions.

The foreign policy, you know, Karni's been in Turkey.

Yeah.

It's not the only country he's gone to that has... you know, and made nice with where there are sort of human rights, whatever you may say, concerns, democratic concerns and so on.

The press makes a big deal out of this and the sort of intellectual class, I think, makes a big deal out of this.

Are there any signs that the Canadians are bothered? No.

We just don't pay that much attention to foreign policy.

That's been my experience since I've been here.

And also a very prestigious project is the construction of a highway between the country's two largest cities, the capital, Ouagadougou, and the second city, Bouboudoulasso.

How has Traore altered the foreign policy of Burkina Faso, both in terms of its relations with other African states and also with countries like France, the former colonial power, and Russia?

Traoré has taken a very clear stand against French new colonial dominance.

It was as early as in January 23 that he demanded that France withdraw its remaining forces from the country, which, of course, France did.